at the united nations and providing vital fuel to power assad's crackdown. indeed, as an aging fidel castro of cuba fades from visibility, chavez has supplanted him as the united states' nearest foe. and on the other side, running against chavez is david. for the first time, the typically fractured opposition has united around a challenger, henrique capriles radonski, a telegenic former governor of the populous state of miramba 18 years chavez's junior. >> ( translated ): and i say to the people of venezuela, you judge who is in the process of change and who has become sick from power, because he who is now in the palace has defrauded the venezuelan people. >> suarez: often clad in a baseball cap bearing venezuela's national colors, the redbull- drinking 40-year-old markets himself as a modern leftist, someone who can balance free market incentives with the country's social welfare programs, like brazil. and he's struck a chord. in february's primary, he took 64% of the more than three million votes cast among five candidates. >> ( translated ): i will get i